My New Life in Equestria.
Chapter 17.
"An autobiography?! Mex?!" Twilight said.
"Uh-huh, that's what he said," Applejack said.
"I can't wait to read it! I'm sure there's a lot he hasn't told us yet," Twilight said while excited.
"I don't know, will he be, okay? Trudging up his memories like that?" Applejack said.
Twilight stopped mid-hop and realisation washed over her face.
"Oh, right, perhaps we should ask Doctor T first?" Twilight added.
Applejack nodded in agreement.
"Spike?" Twilight called out.
Little pattering footsteps could be heard approaching from the kitchen.
"Yes, Twilight?" He said as he entered.
"I need you to send a meeting request to Doctor T, it involves Mex," she said.
"Right!" Spike said, pulling out a quill and scroll from behind his back and began writing.
When Spike was done, he sent the scroll by incinerating it with his green flame and off it went towards its destination.
"Doctor T will know the answer right Twi?" Applejack said.
"I believe so, she's worked with Mex for a while now and she is one of the best," Twilight said.
"I hope so, for Mex's sake," Applejack said.
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Applejack returns home and makes her way up to Mex's bedroom.
"Mex? Can I talk to you for a sec?" She said.
"Sure! Come on in!" I say.
Applejack opens the door and sits on the side of my bed. She tells me that she wants to ask Doctor T about doing the book before she'll be on board with it.
"I see, good call," I say after she finishes.
Applejack looks at me with a look of surprise but quickly shrugs it off and smiles.
"I'll be honest, I'm relieved that you said that." Applejack said.
"Well, it makes sense and I completely trust your judgement, you're kinda like my older sister now aren't cha?" I said with a smile.
Applejack begins to lightly tear up and quickly wipes it away.
"Nothing "kinda" about it, you are my little brother now," Applejack said while side-hugging me.
I return the hug and tear up a little myself when I make a realisation.
"Oh shoot! I'm meant to be meeting the girls at Sugarcube Corner in five minutes! Gotta go sis! Want me to grab ya anything?" I say as I pack a bag of bits into my ODS spell.
"No hon, I'm okay, y'all have fun ya hear?" Applejack said.
"I will! Love you bye!" I said as I trot down the stairs.
I pass Granny Smith in the kitchen and wave goodbye to her as well.
"Bye Granny! Need anything while I'm out?" I say.
"Ooh, yes, could you pick up a sack of flour on your way home young'un?" Granny said.
"Sack of flour got it! Bye Granny love you!" I say and bolt out of the door.
I ask Big Mac as well, but he shook his head as I unfurled my wings and took to the sky.
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I arrive at Sugarcube Corner just barely on time, I see the girls by the front door. They see me approach.
"You just made it on time Mex!" Sweetie Belle said.
"But I still made it on time," I said with a chuckle.
Sweetie Belle pretended to be mad with a disapproving scrunched-up face and I giggle at that.
"Come on y'all! Crusader specials are just waitin to be eaten!" Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah! Let's go!" We all said together.
We walk inside the shop together and up to the counter to Pinkie Pie who already had four Crusader Specials all ready to go.
"Hey, you guys! Whatcha doing today?" Pinkie said.
Apple Bloom was about to speak when I interjected.
"Well, I was thinking of asking the girls for a "do-over" picnic, since ours got... interrupted," I said.
Sweetie Belle turned away quicker than Cayde 6 could draw his gun! Much to my confusion.
"Ohhh! Real smooth Mex!" Pinkie said quietly to me followed by a wink.
"Huh? What do you mean smoo-" I said before being stopped.
"It doesn't matter! I love that idea! Let's go!" Sweetie Belle said, causing a round of giggles from the others.
I shrug it off and open my ODS spell to check to make sure that the supplies are still there and they are, now just for the food.
"Alright, good news! Everything we need for the picnic is still in my ODS spell, we just need some picnic food," I say while glancing at Pinkie.
"Do you think we could get a dozen Crusader cupcakes Pinkie?" I say.
"Sure! Come back in ten minutes and they'll be ready to go Mister Charmer!" Pinkie said with another wink.
I turn my head to the side but get ushered out by Sweetie Belle with two giggling fillies before I can respond.
"Okay, we still need drinks and some sandwiches, how about we split up and one ground gets one item each?" I say.
"That's a great idea Mex! I'll go with Scootaloo and we'll go get the sandwiches, have fun you two!" Apple Bloom said with another giggle.
Sweetie Belle blushes again and turns away from me.
"Alright, guess we're on drinks duty Sweetie!" I said with a smile.
"Uh- uh huh, guess so," Sweetie said.
"Uh, just one question, where do we get drinks from?" I said.
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An hour has passed and we all meet up again at our picnic spot, I notice Apple Bloom looking hyper-alert, glancing around every few seconds, just like Kai, Demi and I did on our Strike missions. For some strange reason, it made me feel incredibly sad.
"You okay Mex?" Scootaloo said.
I look up and nod.
"Hmm? Yeah, I'm okay, just remembering something, that's all," I said.
"Let's get set up and have a fun time, right Crusaders?" I say.
"Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusader Picnic goers!" We all said and did a four-way high-five and then burst out laughing.
After we all sit down and get comfortable, I serve a cupcake and a sandwich to all of us and look at my new group of friends once more, and smile.
"Hey you guys, happy Hearts and Hooves Day y'all," I say.
The girls smile.
"You too Mex! And to all of you!" Scootaloo said, facing the others.
"I know I've said this already, but I want to tell all of you at least weekly!" I said, looking at all of them.
The girls look up to me and wait for me to continue.
"I appreciate y'all taking an old soldier like me in as a friend, it means everything to me, and I love you girls," I say with a slight blush.
Sweetie Belle immediately becomes a tomato again; Apple Bloom beams a happy smile while blushing as well and even Scootaloo blushes a bit and smiles.
"Awww!" Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom said while bringing it in for a group hug, Scootaloo was about to say something when a Taken tear appears on the side of a tree and a Thrall crawls out of it with a screech.
"W-what the?!" Scootaloo said instead.
"No! Not again! No no no!" I say, panicking.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom scream and panic as well.
Thinking quickly, I stand up and summon The Light and my magic into my horn and create an Arc bolt and fire it at the Thrall, disintegrating it instantly.
Three more Thrall and a Captain as well appear at the tear and begin charging me, I summon a stasis wall under them, and they freeze. I turn to the girls.
"Girls! Please! Run! Get outa here!" I shout.
The girls nod in understanding and begin to run.
"We'll get help Mex! Please be safe!" Apple Bloom shouted.
After the girls are out of sight, the wall shatters and the thralls and captain begin charging me again. I call on the power of Solar and create a Dawn Sword on the tip of my horn, I begin slicing the air and flinging blades towards the enemy.
The blades instantly incinerate the Thrall and severally stagger the captain, a Taken Phalanx appears at the tear just as I finish off the captain. My blade fizzles out as the phalanx charges up a shield blast.
I jump out of the way just in time and summon a void blast at the tip of my horn and fire it at the phalanx, it pushes it backwards and scorches its legs, I summon my blade again and swing it at its shield, and it lets out a screech as it burns from the Solar heat.
It uses its shield and pushes me away from it, I swing a blade at it while airborne and it strikes its shield, the shield breaks and I finish the fight by thrusting my dawn sword into its face, incinerating it instantly, an un-earthly howl lets me know of a new visitor, a captain, much larger than the first one.
"Ah," I say, panting.
"You must be the big honcho," I say.
The big captain just screeches at me and draws its blades.
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The girls are running as fast as they can towards Ponyville, Apple Bloom knowing that Applejack was at the market today, they make it about halfway there when they see four bring flashes in the sky from Twilights castle.
"Hey, what's that?" Scootaloo said.
"I don't know, forget about it, run!" Apple Bloom said.
The lights start moving very quickly towards them and in no time at all are flying directly at them!
"Whoaaa!" Sweetie Belle said as they all screeched to a halt.
The Amulets of Light quickly attach themselves to their owners and bring the girls back towards me, following Mex's amulet.
"Whoa! What is happening?! Where are we going?" Apple Bloom said.
"I don't know!" Sweetie Belle said.
"We're heading back towards Mex!" Scootaloo said.
"Girls?! What's going on?" Twilight said flying next to them.
The girls all try and talk at once trying to bring Twilight up to speed.
Twilight can't understand the girls at all but in no time, they were approaching the top of the hill that the girls ran from.
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I summon my magic, void, arc and solar energies into my horn and create a spark of Omni around my body, I fire it towards the captain, and it blows a large chunk of its arm off. It screeches in pain and lunges forward towards me and blasts me in the chest and face with a taken blast.
The blast sends me flying back nearly one hundred feet and I land hard, right next to the girls and Twilight!
"Mex! Are you okay?!" The girls and Twilight say.
I'm pretty banged up at this point, but I stand up and glance at the girls.
"Girls?! What are you-" I say before my Amulet of Light attaches itself to my body and a thread of light ignites between the girls and I, just like before, we instantly feel closer to each other.
"Girls! I think I know what to do! Remember how we closed the last Taken rift? We've gotta do that again!" I say.
"Right!" The girls say together.
We place our hooves together and close our eyes, we focus on our bond once again, we all open our eyes together and they glow a brilliant white, our coats shimmer with Light, our Light surges and creates four gigantic figures resembling all of us.
They place their hooves together and a rainbow blast fires from the figure's hooves engulfing the Taken tear, the tear continues to shrink until it vanishes entirely, the figures dissipate and return to our bodies, our eyes return to normal, and we gently lay on the ground from exhaustion. The light shimmer surrounding our coats dissipates as well.
I turn away from everypony in an attempt to hide my injuries.
Twilight stares in disbelief for a few moments before rushing to help us up. I stand on my own.
Twilight gasps as if she had a sudden realisation.
"I know what the Amulets of Light are for!" She said, clearly excited.
We all look up to her waiting for her to continue.
"You four must have been granted these amulets so you can seal up these breaches when they happen,"
"You think so Twilight?" I said panting, still out of breath.
"Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure, Equestria hasn't seen anything like The Light before, but it makes sense!" She said.
"Hey yeah! I think Twilight is right Mex!" Apple Bloom said, also out of breath.
The built-up pain and exhaustion were too much for me and I fell back down to one knee, groaning as I went.
"Mex? Are you okay?" Scootaloo said.
The girls turn their heads to me and look a little closer.
"I- I've been better I'll be honest," I said with a chuckle and turned to look at them.
I've got a large gash along the top of my left eye that is bleeding slightly along with several scrapes on my legs and several bruises on my body from the battle.
The girls gasp deeply and zip up to me.
"Oh my gosh, Mex! No wonder you can hardly stand!" Twilight said.
"Girls? Wait here with Mex and I'll go get some help from the hospital!" She continued.
"No, don't bother, I can teleport us there," I said while groaning and holding my ribs.
"It's not a good idea to teleport if you're this badly injured, promise me you will wait here," Twilight said looking me in the eyes.
I sigh and agree, even Pinkie Promising to wait here with the girls.
Twilight is satisfied and takes to the sky as fast as she can towards the hospital.
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Twilight is soaring through the sky and she sees Rainbow Dash flying in the opposite direction, she slows down and flags her down. Rainbow slows down and stops in front of Twilight.
"Twilight?! Did you see that?! It looked like-" Rainbow said before being stopped.
"Yes, it was the Crusaders, Mex is badly hurt and I'm on my way to get help, can you fly over to Sweet Apple Acres and let the Apples know for me?" Twilight said.
"Of course! Leave it to me!" Rainbow said before zipping off in the direction of the farm.
Twilight's horn glows and she teleports the rest of the way to the hospital.
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"Hang in there Mex, Twilight should be back soon with help!" Sweetie Belle said.
I look up towards the girls and see their concerned faces.
"I'll be okay girls, truly, I mean hey, I've been in far worse situations before, if you know what I mean," I said, hoping my humour would lighten the mood.
It seemed to work as the girls relaxed a little and opted to just gently nuzzle me.
Before long, we hear rapidly approaching hoofbeats, I look over and see the six older girls, and three medical ponies carrying a stretcher galloping towards me.
"What I wouldn't give to have Ghost back," I chuckled to myself.
"Excuse me, girls, make way!" Doctor Horse said.
"Nurse Redheart, could you help me get him on the stretcher please?" He said.
"Of course Doctor," Redheart replied.
"Hey Doctor, long time no see hey?" I said with a chuckle which I immediately regretted as my pain spiked.
"Yes indeed, just relax son and try not to speak too much, we'll have to up and about in no time at all," Doctor Horse said.
I gently nod my head in understanding.
The medical ponies load me up on the stretcher and carry me back towards the hospital, Twilight caught the others up on what happened with all of them looking over at me like I was an injured little brother that they were all caring about.
"Huh, go figure, I was a guardian for over sixty years, and this is the third time I've felt like I've had a family," I thought to myself.
I close my eyes to get some rest.
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A familiar smell wafts up my nose, and memories of combat flash into my head, I open my eyes and confirm what I had thought, the smell was ash mixed with gunpowder, I am back on The Moon fighting off the Hive with Kai and Demi.
I draw my weapon and join the fight, thrall after thrall fall to our assault, Hive wizards are dropped onto us from their foul ships, they shriek at us and begin to fire their darkness blasts, Knights charge us with their blades raised.
Demi draws back on her void bow and fires a Shadowshot directly into the face of a Knight, it holds them at bay for a few moments while Kai and I fire barrages of bullets and grenades to wipe them out before they can recoup.
More knights along with escorts of Acolytes appear from the caves, a Knight prepares a grenade to throw, I call out to Kai, but he can't hear me, I scream out to him to watch out, but he still ignores me, the grenade is thrown and lands directly next to Kai and explodes, my eyes shoot open and I gasp for air. All a dream.
"Mex? Are you okay?" Apple Bloom said.
"He's awake!" Scootaloo calls out to the group, who walk over.
"W-whoa, that fight must've taken it out of me huh?" I say as I sit up with a hoof to my head.
"Yes, your body suffered from extreme exhaustion, combined with your injuries, it was too much for you to take so you fell asleep," Doctor Horse said.
"Not to worry though, your injuries will clear up without any issues; We'll have you stay the night and you'll be okay to go home in the morning." The Doctor said.
"Thanks, Doctor, I appreciate your help," I say.
Doctor Horse nods his head and makes his way out of the room, Apple Bloom approaches my bed.
"Mex? Are you okay? It looked like you were havin a bad dream," She said.
I hold my hoof to my head and grunt softly.
"Yeah, just another one of those annoying memories from my time as a guardian," I say.
The girls look at each other concerned.
"What? It's not like we haven't dealt with this before you know," I say.
"Well, sugarcube," Applejack said as she stood forward.
"You sounded a little different this time," She continued.
"W-what do you mean?" I say, confused.
"It sounded like you were genuinely in danger, you even started to use your magic and Light to fight enemies that weren't there," Twilight said.
"Yeah, it's like you were-" Rainbow said before I cut her off.
"Back in the middle of the fight?" I said with my head hung low.
"Yeah, that's exactly what it was like, is that what you saw?" Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, it's like I was there, in my human body, actually executing missions again; It was so intense, I could actually smell the ash and gunpowder in the air," I said.
"Argh! I'm so sick of these accursed memories infecting me!" I say with a tone of clear frustration.
"I know it can be frustrating sweetie, but those memories are a part of you," Rarity said.
"Well, I wish they weren't, they're like poison," I say with a tear in my eye.
"One that won't just finish me off," I thought to myself.
"Come on girls, let's let Mex rest and we'll visit tomorrow," Applejack said, ushering the Crusaders out.
"Okay-y-y-y-y-y," The girls say together.
"We'll see you tomorrow Mex! Goodnight!" Sweetie Belle said.
"Good night everypony," I said choking back a few tears and turning on my side.
I was wide awake for the entire night, battling with my memories, hoping they would just go away. When, suddenly, I had an idea.
"There has to be a way for me to erase these memories, I have to find it!" I thought to myself.
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It's the next day, after passing out at around two in the morning from exhaustion, I woke up rather late in the day, I open my eyes to find the Crusaders and their sisters quietly talking in my room.
I glance at the clock and see the time is ten in the morning. I groan in a little pain and sit up, Scootaloo was the first to see me.
"Hey guys, Mex is finally awake!" She said.
Everypony looked over to me and smiled.
"Good morning darling, rough night?" Rarity said.
"Hmm, yeah, I couldn't sleep very well," I said.
"Well, how do ya feel now?" Apple Bloom said.
"Physically? Much better, thank you," I said with a smile.
I know they won't approve of my plan to use a spell to remove my memories so, I can't tell them, I just can't.
"You ready to get out of here kid?" Rainbow Dash said in a hyped tone.
"Yes! Definitely!" I said in genuine excitement.
"Hold on now, the Doctor said he'll be around in a few minutes to send ya home," Applejack said.
Just as she finished talking, Doctor Horse appears with Nurse Redheart, looking over my charts.
"Ah! I see you're awake, did you have any difficulty sleeping?" Doctor Horse said.
"Yeah, I was just a bit sore, that's all," I lied.
"Hmm, okay, well how do you feel now?" Doctor Horse said.
"Well, not perfect but, good enough to go home," I said with a smile.
Everypony let out a chuckle.
"Yes, I would have to agree, your tests seem to be in order, and I am confident that you will not collapse during everyday activities; Alright Mex, I am discharging you from the hospital but do me a favour, stay away from hard activities for the next two days or so, okay?" Doctor Horse said.
I nod in agreement, and he signs the discharge papers which he gives to Applejack.
"Alright, let's get you out of here Mex," Doctor Horse said.
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It's the following day and I decide to slyly ask Spike to see if he can help me find a spell book that contains a spell to help me. I say goodbye to Applejack and head out towards Twilight's castle.
I approach the big castle doors and knock with my hoof. I step back and wait for an answer, but nothing.
"They're not home?" I think to myself.
Feeling desperate, I try and knock again, but again, no response, I begin to give up when I hear Spike behind me.
"Oh, hello Mex! Did you want to speak to Twilight?" He said.
"No! Uh, I mean, I was looking for you actually," I say.
"Me? What can I do for you?" Spike said.
"I was wondering if you could help me find a book, you see, I was hoping I could find a book about-" I stop myself as I see Twilight walking up the stairs behind Spike.
"Um, a variety of different spells that I could study?" I say with a smile, hoping he didn't catch on.
"Hello Mex, what can we do for you?" Twilight said.
"Oh, just looking for a book about magic that I can casually read, specifically about a variety of different kinds of spells," I say.
"Ohh! I can help with that! I'm so excited somepony else is interested in studying!" Twilight said bouncing on the spot.
Spike smiled and shook his head.
Twilight and Spike led me inside and to the library where Twilight floated a book down to me titled "A Collection of Everyday Spells" as well as another book titled "A collection of Less-Than Everyday Spells".
"The second book is for more advanced spells, let me know if you need any help!" Twilight said with a beaming smile.
"Thanks, Twilight!" I say with a smile and head out the door.
I rush home to my room and begin flipping through pages, scanning for anything related to memory, but after studying both books three times, I cannot find it.
"Dang it!" I angrily whispered to myself.
"I'm gonna have to go Canterlot and make an enquiry there, away from prying eyes," I thought to myself.
I jump up from my bed and head downstairs where I see Big Mac heading outside, I rush up to him.
"Hey, Big Mac! Just letting you know I'm heading to Canterlot, doing some more shopping," I say, feeling awful for lying but knowing it had to be done.
"Eyup," Big Mac said.
"Back before dark, I know," I say with a smile.
"Eyup," he said again.
I gently take off into the sky and head for Canterlot Library.
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Arriving in Canterlot, I make my way to the library and up to the clerk.
"Hello and welcome to Canterlot Library, how can I-" The mare said before stopping and having her mouth hanging open.
"Hello, yes, I am an alicorn, no I'm not royalty, could you help me find a specific spell that I'd like to research?" I say.
"Uhh, umm, uhh, yes! Of course! What is the subject you'd like to find?" The mare said.
"Well, I need to find books that detail memory spells, do you have any like that?" I say.
"Yes, of course, please follow me," The mare said.
She leads me to an aisle of magic spells and searches through shelves until she pulls a few books out.
"Here we go, these are the spells that the public is allowed to read, as memory spells that affect others are heavily restricted, these spells would only affect the caster," The mare said with a smile.
"Okay, thanks for your help, have a good day," I say.
I pick up the books with my magic and head over to a table to study them. I flip through pages of theory, history and current research on memory spells and eventually find an executable spell, this spell only erases the last ten minutes of memories so that won't do.
I keep reading and find no spells that would help me. Frustrated, I get up and head home, promising to find what I need.
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It's the following day, and I decide to head over to Twilights castle again and have another look, picking up the books I got the day before to return them, I head out.
"Hey, where are you going Mex?" Apple Bloom said.
"Oh! Um, I'm just heading over to Twilight's castle to see if I can find a book," I say, startled.
"What kinda book?" Apple Bloom said, tilting her head.
"Uh, just some topics I've been curious about for a little while, that's all," I said.
"Oh, okay! The girls and I will meet cha at the clubhouse in a few hours?" Apple Bloom said.
"Sounds good, I'll see y'all there," I say.
Apple Bloom looks a little concerned but lets it go and leaves to meet up with the girls.
I take to the sky and head over to Twilight's castle and knock on the door. Spike answers.
"Oh, hey Mex! More research huh?" He said.
"Yeah, do you mind if I just have a look around the collection?" I ask, hoping he doesn't ask why.
"Sure, let me know if you need help, okay?" He said as he turned to leave.
"Oh, hey where's Twilight?" I say.
"She's in Canterlot, meeting with the princesses or something. I didn't pay too much attention," Spike said, which I chuckled about.
"Okay! Thanks, Spike!" I say.
I turn my attention to the stacks of books and begin looking through them in hopes of finding a restricted book about memory spells. After nearly two hours of searching, I found it, the book that would finally rid me of these accursed, haunting memories.
"Hey Mex, find something?" Spike said behind me.
Panicking, I let out a shout and quickly close the book.
"Uh, yes, I did, would you mind if I borrowed it?" I say.
Spike chuckles and apologises.
"Sure, go ahead," he said.
"Thanks! I'll bring it back soon," I said and hurried away, much to the confusion of Spike, but he, again, shrugged it off.
I make my way to the clubhouse a little early, deciding to try the spell tonight after everypony had gone to bed.
Before I go inside, at the bottom of the stairs, I quickly store the book in my ODS spell and then make my way in.
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Today was just a planning day for future endeavours, but I think the girls picked up that something was off, Apple Bloom and I made our way back home.
"Hey Mex, are you okay? You seem a bit, distracted today," Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah, I'm okay, just got a lot on my mind, that's all," I say.
"A load that is about to become lighter and far less painful," I think to myself.
Apple Bloom narrows her eyes a bit as if she didn't believe me.
"Okay, well, if you wanna talk to somepony, I'm always here for ya," Apple Bloom said.
I smile nod and give her a hug, to which she happily hugs back.
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After dinner, we all make our way to our rooms to sleep. I turn my bedside lamp on and retrieve the book from the ODS spell. I find the spell again and prepare to cast it, the spell requires concentration on the memories you wish to remove.
I focus on my time as a guardian and tears begin to fall down my face, I channel the spell, and it begins to take effect and surge, for a moment, I hesitate, but it's too late and the spell is cast. A bright flash of magic envelops the farmhouse and a pillar of light fires briefly into the sky.
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Authors Notes.
Hello dear readers! This chapter seems to have taken a bit of a turn, hasn't it? I hope you're all having a great day or night so far and hope that this chapter can add to your enjoyment.
This project of mine started as a single thought, an idea that I never thought I would do, I guess my message for this chapter is, just try! You'll never know if something turns out to be fun if you don't try it! If failure is the only thing you're worried about, go for it! Thanks for reading and I'll see you at the next one! Cya!